Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Series #1)

Pixel Planet

This really is a good book. It’s filled with interesting and vivid characters, a realistic setting, and plenty of intrigue to keep you interested. If you’ve tired of the cliched elf-filled fantasy that clogs your bookstore shelves, give Assassin Apprentice a try. You will be entertained.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The bastard sons of kings play a noble role in fantasy: not only were King Arthur and Modred by-blows, but it is often suggested that Merlin himself came to power from the ``wrong side of the bed.'' While Hobb's offering has a few too many illegitimate heirs backstabbing around, this is still a delightful take on the powers and politics behind the throne. Fitz, who is often called the ``Boy'' or the ``Bastard,'' was begotten by good Prince Chivalry upon some ``peasant'' woman. At age six, he is given over to the safekeeping of the prince's man, Burrich. Fitz's impolitic existence causes the prince to abdicate his claim to the throne, and he and his wife leave the court, and the boy, behind. Fitz has inherited the ``Skill,'' a mind-bending talent, and also has the ability to meld his thoughts with those of nonhuman creatures and to mentally ``repel'' physical advances. When Fitz finally comes to King Shrewd's attention, he is given over to the Royal Assassin's tutelage and trained to carry out the king's devious plans. The novel's conceit-that it offers Fitz's memoirs from childhood through adolescence-allows for several sequels. A gleaming debut in the crowded field of epic fantasies and Arthurian romances. (Apr.)

Library Journal

As a royal bastard in the household of King Shrewd, a boy called "Fitz" spends his early years in the king's stables. When the magic in his blood marks him for destiny, he begins receiving secret instruction, by order of the king, in the art of assassination, a calling that places him in the midst of a nest of intrigue and arcane maneuverings. Firmly grounded in the trappings of high fantasy, Hobb's first novel features a protagonist whose coming of age revolves around the discovery of the meaning of loyalty and trust. This gracefully written fantasy belongs in most libraries.

Roland Green

This well-executed though somewhat conventional fantasy novel reads like both a first effort and the first book in a multivolume work. Neither probability should make the prospective reader wince. The conventional plot concerns a royal bastard of the house of the Farseers, who is raised secretly to serve the house as an assassin. When a succession crisis looms, young Fitz is almost literally flung into a series of complex and deadly intrigues, some magical, some mundane, all unscrupulous. The action moves along briskly, which, in conjunction with Hobb's good world building and fairly original characterization, will keep readers turning pages. This may not be the indispensable fantasy debut of the year, but it will find readers if offered to them.

From the Publisher

"Gracefully written" —-Library Journal